Crushed
by ThatAloneOne
Summary: Carter Grant isn't the only one with a crush on Supergirl.
1. Chapter 1

Raina clicked off the news with a heavy sigh, and rolled over to bury her face in her pillow. There she was again - Supergirl. The best thing to ever happen to National City, that was for sure. Supergirl was _amazing_ \- strong and fearless and brave and... Beautiful.

Supergirl was beautiful. There was just no way around it. She was tall, strong, with a face that seemed to sparkle even when it was glowering. Her hair was always flawless, even when she dropped from the sky after breaking the sound-speed barrier. Come _on_. Raina's hair wouldn't stay put even with a bottle full of mousse. Even then, absolutely nothing approaching those perfect curls.

Raina hugged her pillow tighter, tried to focus on something else. But how could she? Raina's heart had been glowing ever since Supergirl saved that plane. Imagine that! National City had its very own superhero, and it was a _girl_. Everyone Raina's age had grown up hearing about Superman and how he saved Metropolis every other day. All the girls wanted to date him, and all the boys wanted to be him. Everyone loved Superman.

Everyone except Raina. He was just too... Buff. Like seriously. He was an alien. He had super strength. There was absolutely zero reason for him to look like he's just walked out of a Muscle Milk ad. It was disgusting, really. Supergirl, though... Those were good muscles. They weren't bulging out of her clothes like some sort of freaky football padding, but Supergirl wasn't just coasting on alien genetics, either. It was about time there was a female superhero, and it was _definitely_ about time that women were allowed to look strong.

Raina's phone dinged. And then again. It was that special tone, the one Raina had managed to set for her favourite news app - The Tribune, home of everything Supergirl.

Raina waited one minute. She could resist. Two minutes. She could-

Raina gave up and rolled back over to check her phone.

SUPERGIRL SPOTTING! The app proclaimed. NEW PHOTOS! TUNE TO CHANNEL 77 FOR FOOTAGE!

Raina flipped the tv back on. Sure enough, there was Supergirl. It was a new photo, this time. A couple seconds of shaky footage. Supergirl was smiling, embarrassed to be caught on video pulling a cat from a tree, blushing and grinning in that adorable way of hers as she handed the hissing little tabby to its flabbergasted owner.

At least it was a real cat this time. Raina had read all about the time Supergirl accidentally rescued a pet snake. Supergirl was such a big doofus, it was _so adorable_.

 _Well_ , Raina decided, as she totally did not go online and set the new Supergirl photo as her phone background. _I guess there's no point lying to myself._

Raina took one last, lingering look at Supergirl, and turned off the tv. "I'm gay," she told the blank screen. "And I totally have a crush on Supergirl."

* * *

 **So, I watched the trailer for the new Supergirl episode (1x05) and when the guy said he had a crush on Supergirl...? Inspired. Oops.**


	2. Chapter 2

St. Edmund Hall was a fairly good school. If by _fairly good_ you meant _good if you were a genius._ Raina wasn't quite a genius, but she wasn't an idiot, either. School wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. Unlike the rest of the geniuses in her class, she actually had to study for her tests.

Oh well. At least she knew how to talk in front of people. Carter wouldn't be able to talk to a stranger if he got hit in the face with a script. Probably why he didn't have any friends. He couldn't talk to anyone unless they hit on a topic he liked, and he didn't tell anyone what he was interested. Not that Raina had friends, either. But _that_ was not her fault. She'd only moved to Metropolis a couple months ago with her aunt and pretty much everyone at St. Edmund's had a bad case of Snob Syndrome.

Raina lifted her head off her desk for a second to check if Ms. Yoland had written anything new on the board and… was greeted with a faceful of Superman. She groaned, dropped her head back onto her arms.

The only experience Raina had with Superman was general knowledge, a disgust of his muscles, and a toy that her cousin had given her when she was seven. Her cousin had tried, he really had, but the toy was the stupidest thing _ever_. If you pressed a button, one of Superman's arms popped up and there was some really fake sounding wind whistling, then he spouted one of two lines.

It was either, "UP, UP, AND AWAY!" or Raina's personal favourite, in a voice that was too deep and stupid to actually be Superman, "CRIME DOESN'T PAY."

Safe to say, the toy didn't make her like Superman any more. Neither did this video that rang of propaganda, Superman glowered from the screen, Ms. Yoland basking in the light of his square jaw and ungroomed eyebrows. Raina didn't think her day could get any worse.

Her phone dinged, the special CatCo tone that told Raina Supergirl had done something else. Raina's head whipped up, scrabbled for her phone, trying to shut it off before it let off a second tone. Movement ran in the corner of her vision, and Raina's phone let out a second ding just as someone else's did.

Ms. Yoland paused the Superman propaganda, her icy blue eyes narrowing to slits. She propped one perfectly manicured hand on her hip, and everyone in the class swivelled to stare at today's fresh meat. "Miss McCarthy, Mr Grant, do you have anything you want to share with the class?"

Grant? Wait, did Carter's phone go off, too? Raina stared at him, colour high on his cheeks, a hand clapped over his phone in a futile attempt to stop it from going off again. Carter looked like he was about to implode with embarrassment. "N-no."

Ms. Yoland turned her evil glare to Raina, who plopped her head back in her arms. "No, Ms. Yoland. Sorry Ms. Yoland. It won't happen, Ms. Yoland."

The teacher tutted, sat back down. She looked mollified, or maybe it was just a reflection of Superman's permanently guilty looking face. "I certainly hope not."

The video resumed, and Raina snuck a look at Carter. He was hunched over his phone, and unless Raina was greatly mistaken, he was _totally_ reading a Supergirl article off the CatCo app. The same one, in fact, that Raina was skimming through. No new photo, unfortunately, but Supergirl had done it again. The military had screwed up — again — and Supergirl had stopped a freaking _hurricane_ with her superpowers.

Raina snuck another look at Carter, suspicious. Wait. Wasn't his mother Cat Grant, head of CatCo Worldwide Media, home of Supergirl? Shouldn't he know this already?

Raina stared at Superman, thoughts whirring. This was her opportunity. Carter would probably know all about Supergirl, and Raina was dying to learn more about her. Sure, she had a crush on Supergirl, but also? Supergirl was _an alien_. Raina didn't get into St. Edmund's Hall for no reason. She wanted to be a journalist, and what was better for press than a pretty, good-hearted alien superhero? CatCo had certainly already taken advantage of Supergirl. When Raina went up for internships, she was _so_ going to be interning at CatCo.

Raina looked at Carter again, but this time Carter was staring at Raina too. She smiled, with teeth. Carter's eyebrows furrowed, and he nodded down at the phone Raina was cradling in her lap. Raina's grin widened, and then he mouthed, _Supergirl?_

Raina nodded, and for what she was sure was the first time this year, Carter smiled.

* * *

 **So, welcome to the extended story I didn't intend to write! The updates won't be regular, but since Supergirl's going on hiatus, they'll probably be coming faster. This chapter is set during 1x06 "Red Faced". Tell me what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

"So," Raina said, cornering Carter against his locker with the same casual stance professional wrestlers used to look like they were about to murder someone. The lockers were all eyesore-yellow, which was probably why the principal refused to go anywhere near the students. Raina didn't blame him. Carter yelped, nearly slamming his locker shut on his fingers. Raina sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay," Carter said, but he was examining his locker door like it held the secret to Supergirl's identity. "I'm…" he trailed off, still staring fixedly at the locker.

Raina sighed again. "Easily startled, yeah. I've been at this school for a while. I noticed." She shook her head, curls bouncing around her face. "Okay, lets try that again. So." And it was more of a statement this time, not a question. "Supergirl."

Carter didn't grin, not quite, but his eyes sparkled. "What about Supergirl?"

"Everything about Supergirl," Raina told him, and actually _winked_. It was astonishing how much easier interacting with people was now — especially interacting with boys. She didn't worry about accidentally flirting and getting the wrong sort of attention anymore — she was gay. Why would she be flirting with a _boy_? "No, seriously, tell me everything."

"Um," Carter said, and Raina realized she might be just a _little_ bit imposing. They'd never talked before, after all. Mostly because Raina was afraid that everything she said to a boy would be taken the wrong way — what if he likes me, what if I don't like him, am I supposed to like him? Wow, she'd really been having issues. "What do you mean, _everything_?"

Raina's phone went off again, and so did Carter's. They both reached for their pockets at the same time, Carter abandoning his unzipped bag. "Ah," Carter said, as if this was some sort of marvellous discovery. "As in, everything."

Raina grinned as she scanned the article — bummer, nothing new. Supergirl was laying low at the moment, other than the usual CatCo reminder to sign up for the email list to be kept even _more_ up to date. Carter and Raina sighed in unison, then laughed. "Every time, huh?"

Carter nodded. "Every time. I get so excited and then-" he made a fizzling noise. The tension was gone, which was great. Raina had always wanted a friend. "Mom doesn't seem to realize that if you're obsessed enough to have the app, you're not going to need email reminders too." Carter froze, midway through unpacking his bag into the fluorescent locker.

Raina got it. Mom ran the company. Awkward. Did he think Raina was just pumping him for insider information?

Well. She totally was. But she was also in it for Carter and _his_ inside information, and also for someone to bounce theories off. She couldn't be the _only_ one to think that Maxwell Lord was up to something, right? "I know, right? Seriously, I have the reminders on even in class." Raina shot a sidelong look at a still frozen Carter. "The dilemma, you know? I love Ms. Yoland — actually no, I don't — but her obsession with Superman is a little too much about the chiselled jawline."

Carter unfroze with all the subtlety of an exploding glacier. "Yes! Supergirl has done things even Superman hasn't, and yet Superman gets all the press! It's like women's sports. All the effort, five percent of the recognition."

" _Yes_." Okay, Raina was calling it. Making friends with Carter was the best decision of her life. "Exactly! Superman couldn't defeat Reactron but with one flip of Supergirl's excellent hair, bam, job done!"

"Yes!" Carter was smiling now, like Raina had officially reached Friend Level Two. "She gets so much crap from the media for doing better than Superman. When he 'rescued'," and Carter had the most impressive air quotes Raina had ever seen, his voice falling into a cadence that Raina recognized from Cat Grant's broadcasts. Apple, meet tree. "National City, he ended up causing the highest casualties in one area since the last _war_."

"Whoa," Every time Raina thought she couldn't like Superman less, she got proven wrong. "That's... Intense."

Some of the energy died from Carter's eyes, and he shoved the rest of his binders in his backpack. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Sometimes I forget that actual lives are at stake when the super people play their games."

A somber mood settled over Raina too, even in the midst of a yellow locker catastrophe. "Yeah," she echoed. "At least they do their best."

"And their best is a lot," Carter agreed. "Especially Supergirl. I don't just like her for, you know..." He paused, winced. "Sorry, you wouldn't know. The uh... Arms? Very nice arms?"

Raina choked on the sudden return of laughter, nearly concussing herself on the locker. She straightened, wiping a tear from her eye as Carter stared. "Carter, I'm as gay as the day is long. I know _exactly_ what you're talking about."

Carter went red, sputtered out another couple apologies. Raina waved him off, gestured for him to continue. "...not just for the nice arms. It's our city, you know? And she does a better job protecting it than Superman does to his city."

Raina nodded vehemently. "Yes. Yes to all of the things."

Carter laughed as he slung his bag on his backpack. "I'm glad we feel the same about that." He opened his mouth to say something else, but his phone dinged. Just his phone this time. "Sorry. That'll be my mom. I'm late."

"Late? Oh no, we can't have that." Raina trotted after Carter as he jogged for the exit. She didn't have anything else to do, not with Ms. Yoland assigning junk about Superman instead of an actual curriculum. "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. No time to say- Hello, Ms Grant."

This was it. Raina was going to have a heart attack where she stood. It was Cat Grant in the flesh - the short flesh, actually. Raina had never considered herself taller than Ms Grant but... It was the strange and ungainly truth.

"Carter!" Cat said, smiling fondly at her son. She looked exactly like her pictures, all the way from her coiffed blonde hair down to her impractical but gorgeous heels. After reassuring herself that her son hadn't died or committed academic suicide, Cat turned her laser focus on Raina. "And who is this?"

"Raina," Carter said, because Raina was too busy having a heart attack. Cat Grant was here. _Cat. Grant_. Carter's voice had a different tone to it now that his mother was here, an edge of confidence, maybe. "Raina McCarthy. She's in my class - she's really nice."

"Hi!" Raina said, for lack of coherent thought. Cat was eying her the same way a lion would a mouse - pretty appropriate, really. "Carter's really um, nice too." Her smile turned to plastic. She was bombing this. This could be her chance, and she was bombing it. "We were just... Discussing Supergirl."

Raina wanted to hit herself upside the head. Supergirl? Really? But Cat Grant frowned, elegantly. "Oh?"

"Specifically," Raina said, "How the media treats her in contrast to Superman." Her brain clicked back into gear. It was a shock, that was all. If Raina could recover from moving halfway through high school, she could recover from flubbing an introduction.

"Superman has a much higher fatality rates, even when he had a lot more experience. Statistically, Supergirl is a much more efficient hero. Plus-" Raina didn't really know where she was going with this, but Cat Grant was actually _listening_ and that was making Raina's brain explode. "Supergirl has been way more secretive about her identity. That's incredibly smart: there's nobody to threaten her with except Superman, and well, I'd like to see someone that has the balls to try _that_ pressure tactic."

Cat cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting. You seem to have put a lot of thought into that."

Raina couldn't help a proud smile. "Yes, Ma'am. I'd like to be a reporter one day. Information is something I quite like."

"Hmm." Cat regarded Raina again, and the intensity of the gaze was familiar. It was the same kind of intensity that Carter used on things he was interested in. Raina's heart leaped. "You'd have to consider an internship at CatCo, then. Your grade does internships, correct?"

Raina's heart started dancing the Macarena. She nodded. "Yes. Pretty soon, actually."

"Hmm." Cat said again, and after considering Raina for another few seconds, turned to her son. "I hate to cut this lovely... Bonding short, but we have to go. Marketing decided to print the ugliest proofs I've ever seen and I need to go fix that before CatCo goes down in flames that not even Supergirl could save it from."

Carter walked away with his mother, the last snatches of his conversation drifting back. "...with Kara? Thanks, Mom!" But Raina was too excited to pay much attention.

 _Oh. My. God. I just talked to Cat Grant._

* * *

 **Long time no update. Unfortunately, it's going to be like this for a while. It's impossible to keep up with the show, and I'm swamped in work. Slap a follow on this thing, and you'll see an update the next blue moon! XD**


	4. Chapter 4

It had been… wow, almost two weeks that Raina had been friends with Carter, which marked it as the longest and most successful friendship Raina had had since she was nine. That was sad, but Carter had literally never had a friend before, so Raina didn't feel quite that horrible about it.

Currently, the fledgling friends were kicked back in one of Metropolis' mini parks, half-waiting for a call from Raina's aunt about her internship, and half-hoping that a cat would get stuck in the stunted oak so Supergirl would come rescue it.

The tree was short enough that Raina had nearly poked her eye out on the top branch but well, a girl could hope.

"Mom's been acting weird," Carter said, and Raina turned to look at him. He'd become a lot more confident over the past two weeks, a lot more willing to be genuine around Raina. This, of course, led to complaining. "Last night, we had salmon for dinner, right? And she took one look at the fish, muttered something about a," air quotes, " 'fishy backstory', and ran off for the next half an hour."

"Wow." Raina was impressed. Theoretically, she'd known that Cat Grant was a person, but this was funny. She'd never imagined the owner of CatCo Worldwide getting distracted by her dinner. "Wait. Who's fishy backstory?"

Carter shrugged — or maybe it was just a shiver. It was starting to get cold out, even in the smoggy city. Raina had opted for her winter coat early, and was grateful for her forethought. Where she was practically buried in down, Carter had a windbreaker on — and Raina got the impression that it wasn't breaking much wind. "I dunno. Probably from one of her stories."

"Probably." Raina said, and turned back to starting at the tree. It, too, shivered in the bitter wind. Raina's legs were beginning to go numb, and she felt vaguely guilty to keep Carter out in this sort of weather. "You sure we can't just go inside?"

Carter shiver/shrugged again. "It's not that cold, and plus, you can't get any reception at my house. You've told me that, oh-"

"Shush. Don't add logic to this conversation."

Carter snorted — or maybe his teeth chattered. It _was_ cold out. "Whatever you say, Rainy day."

"Ugh."

Carter shifted closer to Raina, trying to use her as a windbreak, and Raina sighed, but let him. "Mom's been weird about Kara too, actually. She won't let her babysit anymore."

"Why not?" Raina had been hearing a lot about Kara, come to think of it — the geeky, adorable personal assistant of Cat Grant that sometimes babysat Carter. Well, maybe babysat was too strong a word. She had a penchance for disappearing and foisting Carter off on her friends.

She had also heard a _little_ too much about Kara from another source, but whatever. Coincidences. Raina's life was full of coincidences.

Carter actually shrugged this, his teeth pausing their chatter long enough for him to pout. "I have no idea. She's been weird about her for a while now."

From what Raina had heard from her other… source, Kara wasn't that weird. Awesome, blah blah blah, but normal enough. Not that her source was objective. "Weird."

"I know."

Raina was considering bullying Carter into reading one of the books in her backpack when her phone finally. Before it rang a second time, it was at Raina's ear. She was pressing it so hard to the shell of her ear that her head was aching. "Aunt Juliette?"

Her aunt said one thing: "You got it."

Raina leapt off the bench and did a happy dance, Carter grinning lopsidedly through his chattering teeth. "Yes! Yes! I've got a foot in the door! _Yes_!"

Her aunt laughed, not meanly. "Raina, dear, it's a one week internship. You'll be spellchecking gossip articles-"

"I'll be at _CatCo_." Raina corrected, grinning so hard it felt like her face was going to fall off. She'd made it. _She'd made it_. Nobody from St. Edmund's had ever got into an internship with CatCo, one week internship or not. "Everyone starts somewhere, right? Next thing you know, I'll be one of the ninety percent female leaders of CatCo companies!"

Carter snorted, and Raina stuck her tongue out at him. "You know you're not even going to be going _near_ articles until the end of the week, right? You're going to be the coffee girl."

"I'm going to be the coffee girl at _CatCo Worldwide_."

Aunt Juliette laughed again, delighted. "I'm so glad you're happy with this. I can't imagine how you managed it, but, well, you've always been quite an intelligent girl."

"I have no idea how you did it," Carter said, at almost the exact same time. He hauled his frozen butt off the bench, gave the mini tree a sad look.

"I've gotta go, but we'll celebrate tonight!"

"Love you!" Raina hung up, then clutched the phone to her chest. _She got it._ This was even better than Supergirl — even if it was probably _because_ of Supergirl. It couldn't be a coincidence.

Carter slugged Raina's arm as they started heading for his house. Now that they'd got the call, Raina didn't have to worry about reception. "Seriously, my mom has no patience for interns. You must've made a huge impression on her."

Raina tipped her head back and _cackled_ , swaying into Carter and almost knocking him off the sidewalk. "I can't- your mom is great. Whoever approved this is my new best friend."

"Hey, I thought I was your best friend!"

Raina cackled again. "Eh, you didn't get me my dream internship. Sorry."

"Wow." Carter snorted, shoved Raina right back. It devolved into a shoving fight, the people around them on the sidewalk glaring daggers. Even so, nothing could dent Raina's happiness. "How quickly you forget our love."

"Sudden amnes- whoa!"

It was snowing for the first time that year, the first of the flakes swirling down from the sky. The perfect end to the perfect day.

"I hate snow," Carter complained, and Raina slung an arm around his neck, gave him a noogie. The perfect day for her, at least. She could live with that.

"We'll have hot chocolate any minute now. It's all good."

Carter grumbled, shook Raina off, but he was grinning too.

* * *

 **Ooh, clues to the future!**


	5. Chapter 5

Raina didn't know what she thought she was going to achieve, standing outside Metropolis's precinct at six in the afternoon. Rain was pouring down, sheets of water sliding right through Raina's thin jacket. It wasn't supposed to be raining, not really. The weather app had said that it was going to be sunny, high of thirteen and-

Oh, whatever. Old men lied. Weathermen lied. Weathermen were idiots. Raina had known this, for like, ever. She should've worn her winter coat again — she was doing a Carter, seriously.

It was hard to see the buildings around her through the never-ending waterfall. It was ironic, really. Raina-in-the-rain. Still, as much as Raina loved standing outside in the deluge, there was a point to this mission.

You see, her cousin was a bit of an idiot. As such, he tended to screw things up a lot. However, he was a smart idiot, something that was both perplexing and irritating. As a smart idiot, he had ideas. This idea, the one Raina had stolen, was to get a police scanner. From the police station.

As in: steal.

To some, this might have been going a little far for a celebrity. For Raina — okay, her uncle was a super villain in a SuperMax prison and her cousin had so many issues it wasn't even funny. If she could use the pretext of Supergirl to snag a police scanner so she had a one-up on him… Well, that would be a win over Winn and Raina had always been a huge fan of puns.

Raina's parents wouldn't have been proud of their daughter, but Raina was past caring. Her parents… well. the uncle in SuperMax wasn't the only relative with an interesting history. At least her aunt was sane enough. The only untoward thing she'd ever done to Raina was make Raina eat brussel sprouts.

See, Raina was a sensible girl. There were some things that people couldn't come back from, places you shouldn't go mentally. She'd had experience with that, and devised a solution.

On. Off. A switch — a crush got too far (before she admitted the whole gay thing to herself), a relative did something unspeakable… Raina flipped the switch to off. Off the happy memories went, the nice feelings, the attachment. Raina locked them away in a nice little mental box that she then locked in a nice little mental safe. It could be applied to situations too — like this insane mission. Surface Raina would be meandering into the police station to escape the rain and say hi to Aunt Juliette's ol' buddy, the police chief.

Raina stumbled inside, her secondary mission firmly locked away. Rain tumbled from her barely-tamed afro, another stream of water tumbling down her back as rain sheeted off the top of the door. She shivered, but it was from cold, not nerves. Why would she be nervous? She was just checking in on a family friend.

The police station was baking hot — Raina could almost feel the water steaming off her dark skin as she waved at the secretary and climbed the stairs for the main office. She didn't get a second glance — Raina was often a half-willing courier to Juliette McCarthy's completely requited crush on Officer George Mannings.

The main office was well, office-y. No less than three top-of-the-line coffeemakers chugged away from various desktops, along with a couple mediocre ones, enough cases of donuts to give Usain Bolt a heart attack, and a… light up mini Christmas tree? Policemen were weird.

The back wall was practically wallpapered with warrants and wanted posters in a combination of outstanding problems and criminal-catching trophies. Technically, the posters should have been constrained to the ancient and sagging cork board, but the police had decided to go to war with the fire department and have a fire hazard display of their police prowess. All in all, Raina couldn't decide which was more ridiculous — the light up tree in November, or the inferno just waiting to happen.

"Raina!" someone called, way too jolly for how much rain was pounding at the window, and before Raina could say Not again, Officer George Mannings enveloped her in a strangling hug. Raina flailed briefly, then gave up. In her opinion, George was way too attached to Aunt Juliette — even seeing Raina, who looked pretty much nothing like her, being biracial and all, was enough to make him cling to her. They needed to get their act together. Literally. "It's so good to see you!"

"Yeah!" Raina lied, once George released her and she could breathe again. The only reason she'd been complying with Juliette's demands for so long was the fact that the police office supplied her with endless donuts. "It's been what, a week?"

It had actually been less than a week, but whatever. Raina wanted donuts.

Wait. Donuts. Raina's subconscious was a genius.

George nodded thoughtfully, the bottom of his chin staring down at Raina. He was one of those annoying men that managed to be a head taller than her, even in her heeled boots. "About a week, yeah." He ducked his chin so she could see his smile — bigger than the donuts Raina really, really wanted to eat. "So, are you out of donuts, or does Julie-bear need a favour?"

Raina wanted to gag. Julie-bear. Straight people were the weirdest. A second idea sparked, and Raina attempted to shake some more water out of her hair. "Both, actually." She added a bit of wickedness to her smile, winked and jerked her chin at the nearly-full box on one of the most cluttered desks. "I figured if I came bearing good news I could leave bearing more donuts?"

George laughed so hard he had to bend over and grip his knees for air. Raina kept a smile plastered to her face, mildly weirded out. "You should grow up and be a comedian, Raina. You've got the high hopes."

"Hey!" Raina said, but she couldn't help her snort of laughter. "I object to that. Logic shouldn't have any input on my career choice."

George snickered again at that, and waved Raina past him. She perched on the desk with the donuts, stuffed one into her mouth. It was precarious, trying to stay sitting on the mountain of unfinished paperwork the desk's owner had left lying around, but Raina had ulterior motives. "So, Auntie wants to know if you're available this weekend?" Her aunt actually wanted to know no such thing, but as soon as Raina got home, she'd tell her aunt that George really, really wanted to have dinner with them because of his sad and tragic backstory. "She's baking…" What would her aunt bake on short notice? "…cinnamon buns, and then maybe a dinner to go with them."

George's eyes lit up, and Raina knew she had him. Also, she knew that she had the donuts. Raina snatched up the box, nearly dropping it twice, and then shoved another donut into her mouth. She grinned through the dough as George went, "Really?"

"Yep." Well, it'd be true when she got home, anyway. Details, details.

"Wow. Cinnamon buns are my favourite, did you know that?" George rubbed his hands together, his eyes off in the middle distance as he imagined the heavenly delights of having both cinnamon buns and Juliette McCarthy in his presence at the same time. "Tell your aunt I'd love to come."

Raina hopped off the desk in a landslide of paperwork. "Oh! Sorry! Sorry!" In handfuls, she shovelled the paperwork and pens and other detritus back onto the desk. George waved off her apologies, his eyes still misted with eternal happiness. The rain was easing, but Raina ignored George's plea for her to stay and not catch her death of pneumonia — she had important things to do.

Raina didn't open the donut box until she got home, not even to grab another donut. Juliette warbled a hello from the kitchen, but Raina dashed up the stairs and locked the door behind her.

Then, she opened the box. Nestled under a layer of vanilla sprinkle donuts was a portable police radio — exactly what she needed.

Now, for the most dangerous part of all — explaining to her aunt that George was coming for dinner.

* * *

 **Things are starting to come together! Crushed won't end up being a 100K monstrosity like Ben's Clues, but it'll probably be anywhere from 10-20K when I finish. Happy reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

When Raina woke to the crackle of her stolen police radio, she knew something had gone wrong. She'd set it to the emergency channel — not the one they used for robberies or donut runs, but the one that meant sending out national alerts.

Raina rolled out of bed, scrabbled for the radio and her phone, but then footsteps sounded outside her door and she had to shut it off, _now_.

Aunt Juliette stepped into Raina's room, frowned at her. Raina clutched her phone tighter, pretended to hit a couple buttons. "What was that, Raina? That sounded like-"

"Just an alarm," Raina said, with a middlingly charming smile. Not enough to arouse suspicion, but enough to set her aunt at ease. From her awkward position, she could see that damn Superman toy under her bed, a single arm missing. "Wanted to make sure I got up on time."

Her aunt's suspicious look dissolved into one of excitement, and she clapped. "Right! First day at CatCo!" Raina struggled to her feet, half-heartedly excited. The police scanner flickered from under her bed, something she'd never seen it do before. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Well, I'm glad _you're_ excited, because I am going to die," Raina told her aunt, and it was only half a joke. Her stomach was churning, a toxic combination of guilt, anticipation, and fear. A little excitement too, okay, but it was hard to find it in the rest of the brew. "Nobody has _ever_ had an internship at CatCo before. What if I screw up? Nobody will ever be able to do it again!"

Aunt Juliette waved it off, and before Raina could protest, wrapped her in a hug. She smelled of cinnamon and sugar, no doubt a product of the cinnamon buns she made for every conceivable occasion. Raina had helped her bake them last night as a special treat for breakfast today. "You'll be fine, Miss McCarthy."

Raina scrunched up her face as she pulled free. "Ew. That's you. I'm…" well, she was just Raina. Juliette McCarthy was Miss McCarthy, sister of Gina and Viv McCarthy. "Okay, fine. It's better than being a Schlott, anyway. Right?"

Her aunt's face shut down, as Raina knew it would. They didn't talk about what had happened to Gina's husband. Raina could appreciate the sentiment, what with the whole boxing-away-your-emotions thing she did, but Winn was still a Schlott. No need to insult the poor kid after everything else he'd gone through. "I'll be in the kitchen. You're fine to put an outfit together?"

Raina smiled that middling smile again, imagined feeding Superman's missing arm to the neighbours cat. "Of course. I set it out last night." She had — her nicest blouse, her nicest slacks. Maybe it would've been smarter to save it for the middle of the week when everyone would be expecting her to slack off, but Raina wasn't going to miss making a good first impression.

Her aunt smiled tightly, and left Raina to her stolen police scanner. The second the door closed, Raina dove for it, clicked it back on (with the volume turned down, this time).

"…Toyman, copy, Toyman is on the loose."

"Roger. We've got units on…"

Raina's heart stopped dead. _No_. She'd worried… but she'd never thought. This couldn't be happening. Winn… she had to tell Winn!

In a half-haze, Raina stuffed herself into her no-longer important clothes, stumbled down the stairs in her polished kitten heels. The words played over and over in her head, the cinnamon bun no better than ash in her mouth. _Toyman_ , _copy_ , _Toyman_ _is_ _on_ _the_ _loose_.

Raina ran out the door, her satchel slamming against her side, her phone in hand. She had to get through to Winn before something else happened — it was only a couple more blocks. She could do it. She could do it.

Her phone blinked up at her, that familiar old NO SIGNAL dancing across the screen. Dammit. _Dammit_. She'd forgotten her phone didn't work around this area, the Metropolis monoliths cutting the cheap signal to threads. She _knew_ she should've gone with one of the bigger companies, but she didn't have the money. Raina hadn't thought she _needed_ something better — texts could always wait.

This one couldn't. _Dammit_.

Raina slammed her hand against the brick wall, furious. Her phone blinked up at her, the NO SERVICE message grinning up at her as if it was pleased to be thwarting her efforts to get in contact with her cousin. Toyman was out and about — she _needed_ to get the information to Winn before he ran across it at another source. God, she knew how awful that felt when everyone stared at you and you had to piece yourself back together with eyes burning any vestiges of a mask away.

"You _useless_ thing!" Raina said, again, and punched the wall one last time, for effect. Her knuckles stung, but she had made sure not to hit hard enough to bleed. Dammit, she was going to be late. After all that hoopla about getting out the door in the first place, she was going to be late for the internship. CatCo was just visible down the block, one of those dazzling glass and steel buildings that was probably responsible for Raina's NO SERVICE message.

Raina hurried her way across the crosswalk, ignoring the glares from people she jostled aside. CatCo Enterprises loomed up ahead, and Raina pushed through the door before she could second think herself.

And… it was everything she had imagined and hadn't. People huddled around the reception desk, talking quietly amongst themselves. Everyone clutched a clipboard or a barely secured file folder, and each and every person had a bearing that told of comfort. They knew what they were doing — and Raina felt her spine straighten to emulate them, her steps slowing into something a lot more reasonable.

She got one glance, maybe too. Nobody seemed to be bothered by the school-aged girl with a messenger bag traipsing through their midst. That was a help, even though Raina's nerves kept jangling.

She already knew where Winn worked, what from all the times he'd complained about being right outside Cat Grant's office and _still unnoticed_. Every step Raina took toward the elevator felt like a mile, like she was doing something wrong. Nobody called her out. Nobody cared.

The elevator was nice, she supposed, but she was too busy freaking out to really notice. Each jolt of the elevator felt like Raina was getting a shock to the heart. By the time she reached her (unreasonably high) floor, Raina was ready to drop dead of a heart attack.

The door dinged open and Raina stepped out, poised to run and—

It was too late. She could see her cousin in the centre of the room, gaping at TV, could hear the announcer prattling on about Toyman. _Shit. Shitshitshit._

It hit, right then, that Raina might actually get involved in this too. The Toyman _was_ her uncle, even if she hadn't met the man that she could remember. Before anyone could see her, Raina ducked back into the elevator, ignoring the questioning look from a confused PA standing next to Winn. The doors clicked back shut, and Raina sagged.

Yeah. When Raina had wanted her internship to be 'exciting', she hadn't meant for her family to get caught in the middle of it. _Shit_.


	7. Chapter 7

Her aunt had been right in the end. After composing herself on the elevator ride back to the floor she was supposed to be working on, Raina found herself as the resident coffee girl. It was expected, but… still, she wanted to do more than bring already-overly-hyper reporters more caffeine.

At least CatCo had someone sensible in charge of fire safety. The cork-board was clearly managed by someone with a degree in graphic design — it was so colour-coded that it would've passed muster in a modern art exhibit. By the time Raina staggered past it on her way to the break room for lunch, she felt like she should've received an honorary art degree for simply being in its presence.

The glass-walled break room was startlingly quiet after the chatter-roar of busy-bee workers in the main office. Raina checked her hair in her reflection before grabbing her bagged lunch. Her stomach was churning so badly she didn't know if she could keep another sickly-sweet cinnamon bun down, but she had to try. She'd need all the energy she could get to ferry the next round of coffees to their addictees.

Half of her expected that the morning would be worse — after all, everyone had just woken up. The other half of her was pretty sure that the afternoon would be harder — everyone would be crashing hard. All of Raina was begging her to pick up a coffee habit of her own.

Raina sighed and transferred her cinnamon bun to her mouth for safekeeping as she looked for somewhere to plop her tired butt. However awful the signal was in downtown Metropolis, CatCo had rocking wifi. Raina nestled into a break chair, a cushy velvet-upholstered armchair the same colour of teal as a swimming pool, her phone settled across her knees. The rest of the workers seemed underwater from her perch, like the glass between Raina and them was a fishbowl.

You doing okay, big cousin?

The message went through, and Raina retrieved the cinnamon bun, took a real bite. This time, she could taste it — the oodles of butter, the cinnamon-sugar crumbling between the soft pastry layers. Aunt Juliette could be flaky — ha — about her relationships, but the woman could make a mean cinnamon bun.

Raina contemplated her phone for anther minute before messaging her cousin again.

Sorry. I tried to text and warn you, but I didn't have any service.

Satisfied with her messages, she dug in. It wasn't till halfway through Raina's lunch that her phone lit up with a reply.

It's fine.

No, it wasn't. Raina knew that better than most.

You're ridiculous. Of course it's not okay.

{Winn is typing}

Raina waited, but eventually the status message disappeared. A couple seconds later, a disappointingly short message popped up.

Gtg. Police have questions

Police?

He's my dad, Raina.

You haven't talked to him since he went to jail!

You think they care? Just be glad you're not in the middle of this. CatCo is swarming.

About that...

What did you do now?

Sorry, I really have to go

Talk to you later

Raina downed the last of her bun, licked the sugar off her fingers. A quick look at the fancy silver clock told her she had another seven minutes on break.

What was Winn getting involved in now? He'd been cagey the last few months, and with Aunt Juliette's whole 'we do not speak of thee' thing, Raina hadn't had a chance to ambush him in person. Winn was hiding something, something big, and it wasn't related to the whole Toyman issue. Something had happened to him a couple months ago, and since Raina was the original nosy parker, she needed to know what was going on.

Raina spent the last minutes of her break composing no less than three messages to Winn. The final products weren't perfect, but it was time to get back on coffee duty. It'd have to do. Raina chucked her paper bag, picked her hair back into place, and sent the texts.

I know you're not telling me everything, Winn. That's okay — I know that you're saving it for the big reveal in person. Thanks. You know how much I love dramatics. It better be good, though, 'cause I got a couple great things to tell you about. You wouldn't want to be in my debt, would you? I just might dare you to do something about that horrendous crush of yours.

Oh, and I'm sure I'll be able to convince Aunt Juliette to have you over for dinner some time this decade. Be prepared — she improved her cinnamon bun recipe. If you don't die of sugar shock after the first bite, you'll adore them.

Good luck, with whatever you're doing. I'm sending you all the good vibes I can spare.


	8. Chapter 8

When the doorbell rang, halfway through dinner with the great and charming George, Raina ran for the door. _Anything_ to get away from the sappiness. In the time it had taken for Raina to finish her pasta — which, by the way, she made, because Aunt Juliette was useless at making anything with less than a cup of sugar — her aunt and George had only taken a single bite each.

They were flirting. Which was disgusting, for two reasons: 1) That was Raina's _aunt_ that was flirting, and 2) THEY WERE FLIRTING.

Raina had a low tolerance for sappiness.

Raina swung the door open, expecting it to be either a lost postman or a lost pizza delivery. In Metropolis, there had been a general crackdown on door-to-door salespeople that weren't Girl Guides, which was something Raina was forever thankful for. After a day at school, Raina has maybe 5% of her politeness left.

It was neither. It was Winn.

He looked awful. Tired, downcast, and even… broken. His usually perfectly perky hair was flattened, like he'd run his hand through it one too many times. His clothes were rumpled. He'd been wearing them too long.

Raina wanted to tackle-hug him, but instead she said, "Winn? Oh my god. Save me," and dragged him inside before he could protest.

The front hall was pretty close to the dining room, so Raina had to whisper the whole story. George. Cinnamon buns. Awkward dinners. _Flirting_.

She didn't mention the police scanner.

Winn looked better and better with every word she spoke. Well, not _better_ , per se. But less beaten down. Nothing like a good dose of family drama to have you feeling peppy again.

"So, this George guy," Winn said, in a tone so perfectly hushed Raina's eyes squinted in suspicion of dastardly deeds, "He's a police officer?"

"No, he's a performing monkey- _yes_ , cuz, I just _said_ he was a police officer." Raina said, and then pinched Winn's arm. "No, he's not going to put up a fuss. He didn't about _me_ , and god knows I'm a pretty knowable face to police officers these days."

Winn made a face. It was an interesting face, multilayering tact and memory and an attempt at reassurance. "Aw, c'mon, Raina. It wasn't that bad."

"Uh huh," Raina raised her eyebrows. In the dimness of the hallway, it was useless, but she still felt satisfied. "So, that's the deal. Cinnamon buns, in exchange for making them _stop flirting_. Okay?"

"Um," Winn said. It was eloquent.

Raina stood, and she waited. She wasn't going to just shove him into the middle of the room, tempting as it was. Winn had been through enough today. Enough with family, and enough, period.

"Cinnamon buns," she muttered, when Winn made his fourth hem-haw face. "I've finished my dinner — which by the way, I made, because I'm fabulous — so you can have some of that too."

The word dinner seemed to catch, like Raina knew it would. The way to a Schlott's heart was through their stomach. Raina used to bribe her mother to paint her nails with muffins-

"Alright, alright," Winn said, and it was muttered, embarrassed. "You're sure your aunt is going to be okay with me being here? You _did_ say sometime this century and while, uh, today is-"

Raina pinched his arm again, like a good cousin. "It's _fine_. And even if it wasn't, she's not going to make a scene in front of her bestest new boyfriend. Ready?"

And again, she didn't rush him. This time, thankfully, Winn made his mind up within a couple seconds. They forged into the dining room, with Winn on Raina's elbow. She grinned, gestured with her other arm like she was presenting her latest, greatest Supergirl mock article. "Aunt Juliette! You'll _never_ guess who showed up for dinner!"

Everyone smiled in shock. Through his teeth, Winn muttered, "I think she can guess. Given the um. Evidence."

Raina pretended that she couldn't hear him. Aunt Juliette goggled, which she also ignored. Out of the four of them, George seemed the most unaffected. Even an impromptu family reunion couldn't shake him from his adulation.

"Hi," Winn said, and then he did an awkward little wave that belonged in a bad soap opera. "Raina said that I should pop by sometime and uh, today was…" and he floundered. Already. It had been like five seconds. Poor guy. Raina knew exactly how awkward this was. "… a long day."

Well, that was an understatement. Raina felt her smile tip into genuine happiness. This was great. She was saved. "Right! I'm going to grab Winn some spaghetti, so just," she waved at the table, as if presenting an older and less impressive Supergirl mock article, "Sit down! Talk! Persuade them to eat my spaghetti! I'll be right back."

Raina was sort of right back. In her defence, she'd forgotten where she'd hid the oven mitts, and she'd put the scorching hot lid back on the spaghetti pot. By the time she tottered back out to the dining room with a plate for Winn, the awkwardness had eased somewhat. Which was good. Unfortunately, the lack of awkwardness had led to an interrogation. George was questioning Winn with the same sort of squinty-eyed vigour Raina would have expected if she'd brought home a boy that _wasn't_ related to her.

It occurred to her that she was actually only out to Carter. Huh. Coming out to herself had been such a revelation that it had entirely failed to occur to her that she needed to actually _tell_ everyone else. Well, no time like the present.

Raina opened her mouth, still holding out the plate of spaghetti like it was holy.

She closed it.

She opened it again. Panic slid into her stomach, the awful kind. She'd thought she was done with that — the pricking neck, the hot cheeks, the racing heart. "I'm- Just for your information, I'm-"

And again her voice failed her. Aunt Juliette was staring now, and George and Winn. Juliette swallowed, tried again. She could do this. This? This was nothing. Raina McCarthy had survived more than two _weeks_ of hell on earth. She could come out, dammit.

"I'm..." And then it was too much. "Here to deliver Winn's pasta. Which is an event, you know." Raina swallowed again, plastering a smile to her face. Now more than ever, she was thankful for her dark skin. The blush wasn't nearly as visible. "Since I make the best pasta. Ever."

Winn just looked embarrassed again, Aunt Juliette rolled her eyes, like _Typical Raina_. George was the only one that didn't seem to buy it. Again, Raina was reminded of how much he knew about her. He'd been on the case, she remembered that much. That had been how he met Aunt Juliette, wasn't it?

Raina plopped herself down in her chair, beside Winn and across from George. Surrounded by testosterone, which was not how she had planned to spend the night. Oh well.

Everyone else ate, like they'd suddenly rediscovered the majesty of food. Something inside Raina was still shaking, and it looked like Winn was having the same problem. What a day. Juliette was the only sane adult in the family. And even then, that was debatable. Nobody sane made that many cinnamon buns.

Now that Winn was there and a solid, mature adult presence, the flirting dropped to tolerable levels. Even sultry glances dropped to zero, which was probably the best thing that had ever happened in Raina's life. She was the luckiest girl alive.

Eventually, George chilled on interrogating Winn, instead opting to politely ask about his career and send Raina meaningful glances every time he stuttered out an answer about journalism. It ended with a spectacularly unsubtle, "You're just like our Raina! Bursting with stories about current events and," chuckle chuckle knee slap chuckle, "Supergirl!"

Oops. She might end up coming out today after all. And really, 'our Raina'? Jeez, they could at least kiss first.

Winn shot Raina a Look. This, like the face from earlier, was astoundingly versatile. Winn looked suspicious — both of Raina, and also that he looked like he knew something he shouldn't. "Supergirl?"

All of the blood in Raina's body took a vacation to her face. She prayed that nobody would notice, except for the fact that it was a lost cause. In Raina's mind's eye, there was a rainbow neon sign flashing over her head. "Um. She's. Great?"

For some reason, Winn went red. Really red. As red as Raina would be if her skin was as pale as his. "Yeah."

There was a second of uncomfortable silence.

Aunt Juliette scraped her fork against her plate, which sounded half like a wounded goose and half like armageddon. "Well. If we're all finished, I can get the cinnamon buns?"

Raina looked around, pressing the back of her hand to the back of her cheek, trying to scrub away the warmth. Winn was doing the same thing. Which, weird. Did he have a crush on Supergirl too? _Honestly_. How old was he? Five? "That'd be awesome."

George smiled too, or maybe it was just the same longing expression he'd been wearing all night. "That'd be wonderful, Julie-bear."

Winn and Raina made the same disgusted face, then sent each identical squicked out looks. It only got worse once the cinnamon buns arrived. Evidently, the addition of sugar trumped the addition of an awkward cousin.

Raina shoved Winn for the hallway with a mouthful of cinnamon bun bulging out her cheeks. If she had to listen to the soppy flirting for one more second, she was going to jump on the table and paint rainbows on the ceiling. Or something.

The sugar seemed to have done good things for him, as well. He didn't look as bedraggled as he had earlier, and Raina was glad for that. She hated when people looked like that — like someone had reached inside them and stirred their broken pieces. Family and sugar were good glue, but Raina never quite knew if something was going to work until after she'd tried it. Still. Raina was lucky at things like this.

"Go home," Raina said. George and Juliette chuckled warmly behind her, probably about some hilarious pickup line. Raina frowned. "I mean, if you want to stay and pry them apart, that is a hundred percent fine with me, but… I get the feeling this has been a long day."

Winn sighed. "Thanks for the invite, Raina. I think I needed that."

"I think you needed it, too. Nothing like family, huh?" It was only half bitter. Family wasn't one big monolith. It was just…. People. Some of them were flawed more than others. Some of them held you up, and others tied you down and-

Winn snorted. "Yeah. Nothing like." A comfortable silence, or as close to silence as one could get in an overly flirty household. "You're good, though? Wasn't there something you wanted to tell me?"

Raina's jaw dropped. "Yes. Yes, oh my god, I don't know how I keep forgetting!" She grinned, pinched Winn for a third time. "I got an internship at CatCo! The first one ever!"

"No way."

" _Yes way_."

Winn hugged her. It was awkward, since she hadn't really seen him in months. He was shorter than she remembered, but that was probably because Raina was taller. He released her, and even in the dim hallway Raina could see his huge grin. "Wow! I'm proud of you, cuz." His grin tipped into playfulness. "Are you enjoying coffee duty."

Raina opened the door, pointedly. " _Thanks_. Bye!"

Winn laughed the whole way to his car, and Raina let herself grin out at him. Maybe family dinners weren't such a bad idea after all.


	9. Chapter 9

The second day at CatCo wasn't nearly as dramatic as the first. Raina got to work on time, spent the morning drug-dealing fancy caffeine, and ate a cinnamon bun in the break room for lunch. Winn wasn't responding to her texts, but that was okay. He'd missed a day of work, and Cat Grant didn't seem like the type of woman to let people off work for small things like an escapee father and assisting a police investigation.

Toyman was back in jail, which was good for just about everyone. Except maybe Toyman, but Raina was going to go out on a limb and say that she didn't give a flying flip.

What she _did_ give a flying flip about was the fact that Supergirl had assisted in the capture of said super villain. Winn had mysteriously failed to disclose this fact, which wasn't like him. Back in the good ol' days, Winn would text her about everything from his office crush to the colour of the carpet. Withholding information wasn't like him. It might explain the blush, though. He _did_ have a crush on Supergirl.

When _had_ the good ol' days been, anyway? After she moved in with Aunt Juliette. Raina had been desperately trying to reconnect with the rest of her family — the sane family, anyway. So… three years? Two years? Somewhere around there.

Raina delivered a triple whip caramel espresso to a harried twenty-something having a midlife crisis, and thought to herself, _Ah the good ol' two and half years ago._

Speaking of… The radio silence had brought something else to the front of Raina's mind. Kara. Otherwise known as The Office Crush, or maybe Carter's Babysitter. The girl was versatile, Raina would give her that. What she _wasn't_ was mentioned. Winn had been given ample opportunity to talk about her during dinner last night, and he hadn't. Raina might not have a fancy university degree (yet), but she knew what that meant. Something had happened.

Through sheer feat of coincidence, Raina showed up on Winn's floor for her next round of coffee fetching. It was calmer than the other floors, or at least better at faking it. This was because this was Cat Grant's floor — her office lay at the other end of the floor, behind an intimidating set of glass walls. No poster boards on this floor. That'd just be uncouth. Carter had told her a story about Winn using Cat Grant's office to play video games, which sounded suicidal and also like Winn's sort of thing. He was a huge geek for anything that involved screens and incomprehensible codes.

Raina took the orders down on her notepad from the first couple desks by the elevator, then slid over to WInn's desk and stood there for a solid minute. He didn't seem to notice her, typing away frantically at something that looked like…. something.

Raina wasn't much of a computer person. This didn't tend to interfere much with her life, but not knowing what sort of schemes her cousin was getting into was simply _rude_. It didn't look much like a thing that Cat Grant would sanction, but then again: Raina wasn't much of a computer person.

"Coffee!" Raina chirped. She'd been getting better and better at that during the day. Now, nobody raised their eyebrows at her attempt at enthusiasm. Instead, they scowled, because upbeat people were annoying when you didn't have enough caffeine. "Any orders?"

"Nah, I- Raina?"

"No, it's the new and incredibly dangerous shapeshifting alien that just _looks_ like Raina McCarthy," Raina told him. Winn shot her a shifty look, and then very definitively did Not Look at whoever was behind her. "Seriously though, I'm here on official coffee duty. Any orders?"

"Kara likes-" And then Winn winced. "Uh, nope. Thanks, though." A smile, though it was even faker than Raina's enthusiasm. "Guess you weren't joking about being on official CatCo coffee duty!"

"I never joke about coffee," Raina deadpanned. Then, catching sight of a frowning employee, said more loudly, "Sorry, could you say that again? A triple whip quadruple shot whatsit?"

The employee subsided, and Winn gave her a funny look. "Are you okay?"

Raina raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what I should be asking you?" She gave into the temptation, swung around to see who Winn refused to look at. Wow. It really _was_ Kara.

Also, Kara was pretty. Really pretty. Winn had described her as such, but that was before the revelation. And also, he hadn't done her justice. Kara was vaguely familiar looking, like she was a supermodel on the side, or maybe an actress. No. It wasn't that. It was something a lot more familiar.

"I'm _fine_ ," Winn said, and it was just enough of a lie that Raina turned around to glare. "Really. I don't need a coffee."

"Okay, okay, fussypants," Raina told him. Whatever was going on with Kara and Winn was none of her business. She _wanted_ it to be part of her business, but the line was drawn. Raina was polite. She'd wait at least three more hours before bugging him about it again. "See ya, cuz."

Raina went to walk to the next desk, but then she caught sight of her list. Six coffees, yikes. Raina was good at carrying coffee, but she was also human. Elevators weren't good places to be carrying precarious trays of hot liquids. By the time Raina got back with the coffee, both Kara and Winn were suspiciously missing. Because of course they were.

Raina sighed, and committed herself to annoyance for a good three or four seconds. It was all she could afford — time didn't come cheap at CatCo. To make the most out of her time, she multitasked in some coughing. Her throat ached, which was not exactly fun. She hadn't been sick in years. Lucky. Raina wanted more than anything for her luck to persist. It didn't feel good to be sick, in more ways than one.

Then it was time to ferry things again. Next up, a low level editor. Raina could say one thing about CatCo's employees — even the lowest levelled ones got privileged coffee treatment, and premium levels of stress. All's fair in work and war, right?

She was pretty sure that's how the quote went, anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

Raina knocked on the door to the editing room, her breaths coming in jagged. When she'd said she was going to make her way to the editors and their premium stress levels for inferior pay, she'd thought it was going to a simple venture, like going to the grocery store.

It had been more like a trek to drop a ring in a volcano. Everyone seemed to decide themselves the villains of Raina's story, and put up an obstacle in her path. First, Raina had been commandeered to reorganize the poster boards. Why, exactly, she didn't know. Her outfit didn't exactly scream _career in graphic design_. If anything, it muttered _cash strapped high school student with lofty aspirations._

Raina was all about honesty, after all. Attire was no exception.

The only response to Raina's knock was that the sound of typing accelerated. Dangerously. Raina was seriously worried that the typist's fingers were going to fall off. She knocked again. The same response. After trying the doorknob — locked —Raina went up on her tip toes and peered through the tiny window. She didn't want to knock again and encourage this carpal tunnel in the making.

The room was a mess. A _mess_ mess. Documents littered every surface, along with used coffee cups. The solitary figure at the solitary desk was backlit by an aging lamp. The lamp looked healthier than the person — it, at least, was standing up straight.

Raina sunk back onto her heels, massaged her forehead, and sighed as loudly as she could. It rasped on her sore throat, but she tried not to think about it. The day was nearly over, which she was unmentionably grateful for. There was nothing like stepping out onto the sidewalk outside CatCo with the intention of going _home_ … instead of with the intention of hunting down a horrific coffee combination from an obscure coffee shop that sold sinful looking pastries Raina couldn't afford.

Raina risked one last knock, but the typing speed had hit critical mass, and simply couldn't get any faster. She made a mental note to make a report on the editor's mental health, and shoved herself off the wall to fetch her stuff. It simply wouldn't do to leave the building without her fashionably borrowed bag.

Everyone bustled around, simultaneously ignoring Raina and engulfing her into their folds. It was comforting, in a way. Raina wanted to spend every day of her life like this: one of a many, with a specific purpose and defined worth. Well, not _every_ day, every day. She wanted weekends off and the occasional vacation. But as a career? CatCo was everything she'd dreamed and more. No matter the amount of work it demanded, it had been worth it.

Which was maybe a little romantic when Raina was talking about a job that consisted entirely of fetching coffee, but it was the vibe. And the potential. Raina had taken some editing classes. Raina sort of knew what she was doing. Sort of. Enough, she felt. It was possible her brain was looping into nonsense after how long the day had been. For eight hours, it felt less like a third of the day and more like a third of her _life_. Raina almost couldn't remember what it was like to be holding something other than coffee.

Raina scooped her bag and jacket from the fishbowl break room, and made a run for it. She was half sure she caught a glimpse of Winn running for the stairs and shouting something about a fire, but nobody else seemed bothered, so she discounted it. Maybe the editor had typed so fast he managed to set his computer on fire. She wouldn't have been surprised.

Raina scooted out onto the sidewalk, and made tracks for St. Edmunds. In between delivering and sighing and organizing, Raina had found time to text Carter. Talking about Supergirl was always a great way to regain the energy spent over a long day. Tragically, she'd had to mute her notifications, which meant that she'd probably get a cascade as soon as she figured out how to fix them.

The bus was quiet, which was both a blessing and a disappointment. Raina's brain needed a little time to chill, but at the same time, since the bus hadn't caught on fire or anything equally dramatic, Supergirl hadn't swooped down to make Raina's dreams come true. Win some, lose some.

Speaking of winning. Winn hadn't texted her back yet. As far as Raina was aware, his job let out about the same time as hers. The farther she got away from the skyscrapers, and the more reception she got, the more worried she got. Surely he was done by now. Raina had some pertinent questions that needed answering about his love life. She was a failure at being a nosy cousin.

Carter was waiting at what they'd dubbed the Cell Reception Park — the CRP, for short. Sometimes Carter thought he was clever and told her that it meant Carter Raina Pals. Raina usually told him that it was a terrible play on the acronym and he needed to chuck a couple of and's in there. This time, she hugged him. Carter patted her back with his entire forearm, like he'd never hugged someone before.

"Dude," Raina mumbled, the words muffled in his coat. He was finally wearing one, like she was able to bother him into it without even being there. "Buddy. My pal. You don't need to pat me."

Carter stopped the strange motions, and settled for squeezing harder. Raina didn't mind. The pressure was comforting. It had been a long, long time since she'd felt this run off her feet. Now that she'd had time to rest her aching muscles, she was twitchy and it felt like all her inner workings were clogged up. "Raina? Are you okay?" He pulled back, his face furrowing so far it was near comical. "Oh no, was my mom mean? Please tell me she wasn't that awful."

Raina's hand went to her face, and she was surprised to find tears leaking from her eyes. She choked on a watery laugh, scrubbed at her eyes. "Oh, it's not that at all. I didn't see her today, but I'm sure she was fabulous." Raina had to stop, and choked on a sob. She ducked her head, still trying futilely to rid herself of tears. It was embarrassing, how powerless she felt. She didn't know why her box had broken down so completely.

Carter fidgeted, his eyes flying this way and that. Eventually, he fixated on the little tree, figuring that for safer than the distraught girl. "What is it, then?" He searched for words, like this was harder even than when Raina had confessed her crush on Supergirl. "Did your aunt do something."

Raina pressed her palms to her eyes, never gladder that she hadn't worn makeup. She'd look like a raccoon if she had. "No. She's probably making me desserts because I brought George over for dinner."

Carter's mouth bobbed, at a loss. "What… what's wrong, then?"

Raina walked to the bench, careful in each of her steps, and then sat down as delicately as possible. Her bones ached with memories. Carter set himself down next to her, though he wasn't as careful with himself as she was. "Have I told you about my parents?"


	11. Chapter 11

Carter's words were slow to come. "I… don't think so?"

Raina huffed out a laugh, and swiped at her eyes to find her tears gone. The area around the mini park was empty, as it usually was. It was far enough away from anything important that Raina and Carter were the only visitors. "There's a reason for that."

"There usually is," Carter said, and then winced so hard it looked painful. "Oh god. Sorry."

"It's fine." Raina told him, and then for the first time, she told someone her truths. Being pulled into a rental van, blindfolded, gagged. The days she spent in her own basement, shaking with fevers and arm aching from the IV full of god knows what. Even after she'd been rescued, they'd never been able to identify what the substance was. It had been drugs, and a little biological something or other.

To be honest, Raina didn't even want to know what it had been. It didn't have any lasting effects, at least.

"They put out an Amber alert for me," Raina said morosely, staring at her hands. They looked like they always did — her wrists knobbly from when she tried to yank her hands from the padded cuffs. "To deflect suspicion. They participated in search parties, even."

"Um," Carter said. "That's. That's messed up."

Raina shrugged, and subtly checked her eyes again. No more tears. That was relieving at least. "I'm amazed they even found me, to be totally honest. They had all they needed to keep me down there until they hit the wrong strain and I couldn't do it anymore." She swallowed, her sore throat mixing with the memory until she could practically see it through her old, delirium filtered eyes. The police breaking down the door, George helping her off the table. She hadn't been able to stand unaided for a week. "I'd managed to… I don't even know. Maybe it was a noise. Maybe it was a splatter of blood that got stuck in Mom's hair. They found some evidence that they were lying, and they got a warrant. And then they found me." A last shrug, more to burrow into her jacket than anything else. The warmth was far from her memories of that basement. "The end."

"Actually," Carter said. "Not to you know, be rude but… That sounds more like a beginning." He chuckled, nervous, but finally trying to catch her eyes. "Raina, you survived that! That's like an origin story, like you're a superhero!" Carefully, slowly, he laid a hand on her shoulder, When Raina didn't flinch away, he gripped it hard enough that she had to look at him. He looked earnest, and very, very Carter, like he'd been distilled down to his best parts. "You aren't the same person you were back then, right? I don't know to what extent, or even if it's just how you do your hair but Raina, for the hand you've been dealt you've managed to lay down the _law_.

"Honestly, I'm in awe, and I was ages before this. You're so _smart_ , honestly you are." He snorted. "Look, even my mom things you're awesome, and it takes a lot. You're coherent about your thoughts, and you've got a lot of them. You know what you want, and you're blazing a path for it. You can't tell me that your parents were the end of your story."

Raina hugged him again. It was more awkward than the first one, mostly because they were both sitting on an unyielding park bench.

Still buried in the coat Raina had never seen Carter wear before today, Raina said, nearly rhetorically. "You know the way to my heart?" Raina said, almost rhetorically.

"Your stomach?" Carter said, because he thought it was a joke. Raina squished him tighter, and he coughed. "Um, sorry. No."

"It's why I like Supergirl," Raian told him, and let go. She could feel the box closing back in over her awful memories as she spoke, her reporter surfacing instead of her wounded child. "It's why you should probably become a therapist. Stories."

"Stories?"

"Stories," Raina said again, and smiled. "That's what Supergirl is. She's stories — endless possibilities of stories. She could have been from a thousand universes and she chose _this_ one. I like Supergirl because of her story — the fact that she saves people, the fact that she's an alien and in no way dented to us and yet she saves us, for nothing more than a thousand fractured stories across news platforms that don't know her. That's why it's her." Raina stopped for a breath, ignored the way Carter was staring at her like she just admitted she'd written Harry Potter. "That's why I love working at CatCo, too. Your mother recognizes that we need to have truth in our stories. She knows that we need to acknowledge what's happening in the world. Everything is a story, even our lives."

"I think you should probably write Hallmark cards," Carter told her. "Ditch this reporter gig. You'll make millions."

"But then I'd be lying, and I just can't have that."

"True."

Raina laughed, and so did Carter. Her throat ached, and it was cold, and the tree was the saddest thing she'd seen in a very, very long time, but that didn't matter. Friends were almost as awesome as stories were, and Raina was grateful for everything.


	12. Chapter 12

Wednesday morning, Raina was at work bright and early. Aunt Juliette had been funny all morning, shooing her out the door without so much as a wish for her day. Her cheeks had been so flushed Raina had half been tempted to ask if she had a fever, but she'd been given breakfast money, so she waved off her concerns.

For the first time weeks, Raina had something besides a cinnamon bun for breakfast. A stack of waffles wasn't really any more healthy, but it was the variety that mattered. She was getting her vegetables in. Maple syrup came from trees, and trees were basically overgrown vegetables, right?

She checked the editor's office, empty so early. Whatever poor soul had been trapped in there yesterday was long gone, but they'd left their frankly concerning collection of coffee cups behind.

The computer's power light was on, though, which was odd. Raina, after checking her watch and verifying she had another half hour before she was due on coffee duty, plopped herself down in the aging chair, and moved the mouse. An article popped up, decorated like Christmastime in spelling mistakes. Raina winced. Whoever had written the article had a tenuous grip on the english language, at best. They'd even managed to misspell Cat — which was probably why they weren't here, come to think of it. Cat had a sixth sense for that sort of thing.

Unable to resist, Raina fixed it. And then the next failure. And then rewrote the next sentence for clarity. She just couldn't help it — even the articles she'd written as a kid, she hadn't gotten things this messed up. She was so absorbed in it that she nearly jumped out of her skin when the door banged open.

"You must be the new girl," someone said, and before Raina could turn and get a glimpse of their face, they'd moved on in a trail of folders and drifting forms. "Get on it! We don't have all day!"

"I'm not-" Raina started, but then a USB stick was tossed through the door. On reflex, she caught it. CATCO ENTERPRISES, it said, except half the letters were worn away from use. COT NERPS, it read. "What's this?"

"Do it!" the woman shouted, then receded in a flurry of clicking heels. Raina opened her mouth, closed it. The USB stared at her accusingly. Raina gave the rest of the office a helpless look. The desks stared back at her, all of them dusty or coffee cup covered.

Raina checked her watch again — ten minutes to T. Enough to check what was on the USB, at least, so she knew who to get this too.

The USB contained files, and lots of them. It was also titled, FOR EDITOR APPROVAL.

Shit. Was this the editor's desk? Raina wasn't supposed to be here, as a wild guess. And the editor wasn't here. What was she supposed to do with this?

Something dinged, and Raina had to close the USB window to see the notification. AUTOMATIC SUBMISSION COMPLETED.

What. Raina paged through the files she'd been looking at, and each of them had an ominous little checkmark on the top. The edits she'd made, the changes...

Oh, she was in so much trouble.

* * *

Raina was not in trouble.

It was hard to believe, but Cat had been adamant about it. In fact, she was in the opposite of trouble.

It turned out the pages Raina had edited had been the only readable ones out of the whole magazine the ex-editor was supposed to be cleaning up. There was still a good couple days before it was to be released, so there was that relief, at least.

On the other hand, Raina was now entirely in charge of editing CatCo's Compass, the small magazine that CatCo inexplicably had about traversing the wilderness. Someone else was going to fact check it and give it a final run-through, of course, but Raina was in control for all of the rest of her internship. For once, she was glad it was only a week.

Just getting the articles into readable shape took Raina the entire day — whoever had written them must have dictated them on Dragon or a similarly incomprehensible program. With every word edited, Raina felt more powerful, like slotting the words into perfect sentences was what she'd been made to do.

If she hadn't been in that room at that exact moment, or if she'd been able to restrain herself from editing that page, Raina would never have had this opportunity of a lifetime. But she had, and now her name was going on a CatCo byline at sixteen. Raina was the luckiest soul in the whole damn city.


	13. Chapter 13

Raina floated home on a cloud of exhaustion and happiness. In one day, her life had done a dramatic turnaround, the sort of thing that usually happened in the end of a movie, to tie things together. Except, this wasn't the end. This was the beginning. Hopefully, of her long and storied career with CatCo.

Raina hadn't thought her dream of being a world-renowned reporter had any basis in reality but… just maybe. Just maybe.

Aunt Juliette didn't come to the door, so Raina let herself in quietly. The buses had been running ahead of schedule. Maybe she'd timed her grocery run? They _were_ running out of cinnamon. That was a horror too much for Juliette McCarthy to comprehend.

And then Raina beheld a horror too great for her to comprehend — from above, from her aunt's room, there was a breathy noise. Unmistakable.

Raina couldn't help herself. She screamed, and spun right back out the door. With the door firmly closed behind her back, she stared out at the quiet street, her eyes bugging. An old lady, out to check her mailbox, gave Raina an odd look. She mustered a single blink, and then a wave. It was a feat worthy of Supergirl.

As if sensing the irony, her phone dinged. Numbly, Raina wrestled it out of her pocket. NEW VILLAIN IN WEATHERMAN! the article proclaimed, like the author thought they'd departed reality for a comic book. SUPERGIRL DEFEATED IN FIRST BATTLE.

Raina winced, then scowled, then smiled at the little old lady, who was looking more concerned by the moment. The information in the article was sparse, though it was long enough that Raina's feet were starting to ache as she read. They didn't have a fancy name yet, though Raina was sure they'd come up with something snappy soon. Weatherman? Although accurate, it lacked a certain something-something.

Just the powers — controlling the weather, to even a minuscule degree. The temperature, precise gusts of wind, and apparently he'd trapped Supergirl in a tornado that ripped up a huge section of the endangered gardens in National's City's largest park.

Raina stuck her phone back in her pocket, suddenly becoming aware of the little old ladies' side eye again, and the fact she was freezing outside because she'd accidentally caught her aunt… having fun. With George, she assumed. Now that she thought of it, she never remembered him leaving, and that would certainly explain why her aunt had been so cagey this morning. If Raina had been even half the reporter she thought she was, she'd have been able to notice her aunt's suspicious behaviour. _Honestly_.

Raina kind of wanted to go back inside, but she kind of also wanted to never go back inside. This whole thing, in a way, was her fault. Raina was the enterprising one that got home early.

Mind made up, Raina hoisted her bag back up onto her shoulder, and headed out. She fired off a text as she went, so her aunt wouldn't think she had actually died of the shock.

Off to pick up cinnamon at the store

Raina then put her phone in the bottom of her bag, determined to not read any excuses. That would just make this… worse.

The grocery store was just a quick hike away. It was one of the reasons Juliette had chosen her house where she did. While not a health nut by any stretch of the standard, Juliette was very big on _fresh_ food. That included homemade anything, and extra included homemade pastries.

Juliette's favourite store, and the only one she accepted her precious cinnamon from, was a family owned store that crammed a warehouse worth of food into a dollar store sized rental. It was quiet inside, because it was six o clock and everyone was either still at work, or had gotten home earlier in the day. Nobody really grocery shopped at six PM. Raina meandered the aisles, searching for the spice. Every couple days, the owners reorganized to fit in the new products.

After a couple minutes, and couple pointedly ignored texts, she found it tucked away in a shelf with the cayenne. Raina made sure to double check she was getting the right spice — she'd been on the receiving end of a hot pepper bun before. While an… _interesting_ flavour, she couldn't say even the amount of sugar Aunt Juliette put in things balanced out cayenne.

Raina bought the cinnamon with her leftover breakfast money, and headed home. Light was falling faster than she thought it would, winter settling in between the skyscrapers with steady confidence. Frost crunched around Raina's feet, and she huddled further into her coat, thankful she'd been interrupted before she took it off. This wouldn't have been a good trip if she went _after_ taking off her coat.

Something caught Raina's ear, even through the low buzz of traffic from a couple streets over. It might have been a wrong step in the ones synced with hers, or maybe it was the warm breeze that trickled through her wild curls. The hairs on the back of Raina's neck stood at attention, and she had to fight not to change her steps to something faster.

Someone was following her. And there shouldn't have been enough of a warm wind to tickle her hair, not with a thickening layer of frost crunching under her boots. Weatherman was following her. Oh, god, she didn't have a chance.

To drive the point home, Raina's phone buzzed from her bag again, and her heart sunk. She'd been stupid to put it out of reach. _Shit_.

Raina was still cursing herself out when the soft, warm air in her ears twisted with a biting cold edge. Her ears popped, and her vision went black.


	14. Chapter 14

Raina woke up slowly, and very, very painfully. Her ears felt muffled, though she counted herself lucky she could hear at all. Weatherman could have very easily shattered her eardrums with that little trick.

As much as she could, Raina kept her breathing even. It was simultaneously easy — oh, the number of times she'd pretended to still be asleep on that table — and hard, because she was tied and she felt back there all over again.

The surface underneath her was pockmarked concrete, her fingers trailing into tiny holes. Raina was on her side, feet and hands tied, something solid pressing against her back. She could have been anywhere. Even the smell was the same as any other old cement place she'd been — mould and rust.

Raina opened her eyes.

She had been right. She was in a warehouse, a forklift powered down across from her, its tines tipped toward the ground dejectedly. Everything was concrete, except the empty steel pallets and sheets of plastic, the occasional box high and unreachable on a shelf. Raina racked her brain, trying to think if she knew of any abandoned warehouses but-

"You're awake," a voice drawled, and a cold trail of ice slipped down Raina's back. It wasn't just her imagination — Weatherman's face wavered in above her, grinning with a full complement of teeth. Each looked sharp and too-well formed, like chips of ice. "Welcome!"

Raina had some things to say about that, but she stayed silent. Weatherman waited another second, then scowled and dragged her upright, propping her against a shelf. The room swung and swam, and Raina had to blink a good amount times to get it to clear up. Everything was far too familiar, the clumsiness of her mind, the pain.

"Little Raina McCarthy," Weatherman said, and plopped himself down across from Raina. He studied her, legs crossed and face in his hands. He looked nearly like a child, ready for a lesson. "The very first intern at CatCo media! What an accomplishment."

Another stretched silence. Raina could feel it pulling at her skin. Weatherman's face twisted, and she knew. Talking would be better. He wanted to hear himself validated. "I'm very lucky," she said. She didn't say that it must have been a karmic tradeoff, and this was the other end of it. But was that really enough to deserve _this_? On top of everything else. Raina had a bone to pick with the universe.

Weatherman's eyes lit up, a clear, cold blue like antifreeze on snow. "Ah! It speaks!"

"It writes articles, too," Raina said, without thinking. She braced for an impact, but Weatherman only slapped his leg, giggling. It was more frightening than if he'd just slapped her.

"Amazing! Next, you'll be asking questions like a good little journalist. That's why you're here." A wink, a smile. Raina's insides twisted into ugly knots. "Go ahead! I'm waiting!"

Raina tried to straighten out her thoughts, combing them into separate strands. Her mind was screaming that she was about to be injected with something awful, but it was Weatherman, not her parents. She was safe. Comparatively, Raina was perfectly okay.

Oh. Supergirl.

Raina put on her best journalist voice, covering the cracks and wobbles in her words with official tones. "Weatherman captures CatCo Intern, wanting to attract Supergirl. Supergirl has been known to associate with CatCo, and Cat Grant is protective of her employees. Is this a plot to defeat Supergirl once and for all?" His face twitched, and Raina nearly choked on her own words. This was ridiculous. She wanted out she wanted _out_ \- "Weatherman, do you have any input?"

"Clever girl." It wasn't a compliment. Raina swallowed hard, her throat dry and cracked. "I'd just say that the press is less corrupt than I'd thought. After so much time spent on fluff pieces, you'd think they'd lose their edge."

Raina shrugged as well as she could with her arms tied behind her back. Her shoulders and wrists ached, a familiar gnawing pain. "I'm new."

Weatherman chuckled, and Raina couldn't suppress the shiver. More cold crawled down her back, searing. "Ah, good, dear." A smile was starting to creep across his face, like the frost across Raina's back. "I have a job for you, it shouldn't be too hard." The frost nipped, and Raina whimpered. "Scream, little girl. Scream for Supergirl. I want her here. Now."

Raina would have done anything to get the ice to stop eating at her back, and the memories at her mind. So she screamed, hoping with all her heart she wouldn't be disappointed. "Supergirl! Help me!" And then again. "Supergirl! Please!"

It was possibly the worst thing Weatherman could have done to her. Supergirl was Raina's hero. If she came, Supergirl would see her shaking, weak, tied up. If she didn't, then Raina would die and Supergirl could have saved her. Surviving was always better of course, of _course_ , but Raina just wanted to be away. She wanted the ropes gone. She wanted a miracle.

The window in the far corner shattered, and Supergirl bulleted through. Weatherman leapt to his feet, his face twisted into a horrific marriage of anger and pleasure. The still, musty air of the warehouse spun and froze, turning into a whirling tornado of icy knives.

The wind, still gusting from Supergirl's entrance, yanked at the plastic sheeting. It bellowed and flapped, gaining more momentum as Weatherman whipped the air into a frenzy. Raina cringed back against the shelf, trying to wriggle back into the shelving to be protected by the steel.

Supergirl's laser eyes hit the far wall, knocking down a chunk of stone. It shattered a section of shelving, the teeter-totter effect sending a small box of whatever product flying through the air. Raina watched, incredulous, as it arced through the air, buffeted by wind, and slammed into the shelf next to her.

It was a kitchen set, the plastic peeled back by the wind and heat. One of the knives had skittered free, an expensive one that the package proclaimed had the sharpest edge of any competitor.

And it was sitting directly next to Raina's hand. Within reach.

Weatherman cackled well, Raina could at least appreciate that. Deep and crackling and evil. It was like a sheet of ice falling off the ceiling, or a wind howling through caves full of bears. Raina shivered, the frozen skin on her back still tearing at her with every step.

The storm still tore through the room with a vengeance, but Supergirl was hovering without a scratch on her. Raina could hear them, even over the roaring ice. Supergirl was trying to convince Weatherman that he should give himself up, that there was a way out of this. Raina could have told her that it wouldn't work — she knew what it looked like when someone was too far gone — but Weatherman's never-ending laughter did it for her.

"What, you think I should be afraid of you?" Weatherman's voice was filled with scorn, and icicles crept from the ceiling, dagger sharp. "You're just an alien. Look, you're already shivering. You're just an angry, useless _girl_."

Supergirl shook her head, her beautiful gold curls lank and frozen. Raina almost thought she could see Supergirl staring down at _her_ — and her hands closed tight. "You see, you shouldn't be afraid of people like me. I'm just a protector, easy to take a measure of. I'm outspoken, and when I fight it's not _for_ anything. People like me are dangerous, don't get me wrong, but you shouldn't be afraid of us."

Weatherman just watched, as entranced as Raina was. And this time she was _sure_ Supergirl looked at her, even through the tornado of ice. Her voice carried. "The person that's gone through unimaginable horrors and come out the other side with a smile on their face... Well, that's who you should be afraid of. See, they'll do anything to stay smiling. Don't look away. Don't turn your back."

Supergirl swooped down, the storm concentrating around her. It was too much — Raina could see the strain on her face. Even Supergirl wasn't invincible. This was all up to Raina, now. What Raina could do.

"You only get one mistake," Raina breathed, and she lunged out of the protection of the forklift. She swung, and plunged the knife into Weatherman's back. It was harder than she'd thought it would be, but she pushed, _hard_.

The knife sunk in deep, right under his ribcage on the right. Raina knew too much about anatomy, about what was recoverable. Weatherman would be able to survive a punctured liver if given medical attention, but he would be in a lot of pain.

Weatherman fell slowly, first to his knees, then to his stomach. The knife slid out of Raina's hand, slick with hot blood. The ice clattered to the floor around Raina and Supergirl, melting as it did, without Weatherman's power to keep it frozen.

Raina burst into tears. Angry, hot, useless tears. She shook, and she stood there. Raina wouldn't — couldn't — wipe her own tears away… but then Supergirl was there, her hands so warm on Raina's face, brushing the tears away like her mother had back when her mother still cared.

"Thank you," Supergirl said, when Raina was breathing easy enough to hear her. Their hands were clasped between them, the steady pressure the only thing keeping Raina sane. It was incomprehensible to meet Supergirl. It was unimaginable to be comforted by her. _See_ , something whispered. _You're worthy. Even Supergirl can see that_.

And slowly, something began to knit back together.

Raina smiled, watery and uncertain. "…you're welcome." Raina memorized every facet of Supergirl's face, earnest and kind and _beautiful_ , and said it one more time. "You're welcome, Supergirl. Thank you for saving me."

"Anytime."


	15. Chapter 15

It was surreal to be back at work. Raina expected everything to look different after her adventure — Supergirl, her capture, her… powers.

She still couldn't believe it, though she'd seen it herself. The way everything had just toppled, perfectly into place, catapulting the perfect thing into her hands. Raina dreaded to think what could have happened if she hadn't been so _lucky_. Luck was a strange power, and an easy one to miss, but it was the best thing she could have asked for. It wasn't a guarantee that her life would fall perfectly into place, but it was on it's way to a promise.

The huge, windowed walls of CatCo looked just the same, though. Even the regimentally organized cork boards gave her the same kind of headache. Life went on, as much as it could. But Raina glowed — she had a secret, and she was so, so happy. The happiness lasted, too, all the way through the last round of spell checks and line edits. It even lasted until Raina was standing in front of Cat Grant's desk, waiting for the last word. It had been a week, she could certainly say that.

"Raina, thank you for your hard work, blah blah blah," Cat said, which maybe wasn't exactly what Raina had thought she'd say. The older woman smiled at her, and it was only about fifty percent cunning, which made Raina feel warm all the way to her toes. "You haven't made much of a fool of yourself in a week here."

"I'm just lucky, ma'am," Raina said, and had to bite down on her cheek to stop a smile from blossoming. Luck was her new favourite word. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity."

Cat shrugged her elegant shoulders. The big screens blinked behind her, still running that blurry footage of Supergirl flying Raina out of the warehouse. "Luck or not, you have skill. Who knows? Maybe someday you'll manage to get another job in the industry. Your talent might be appreciated somewhere, oh, like CatCo, for instance."

Raina couldn't contain her smile anymore. "I certainly hope so."

Cat nodded, and then that was that. Raina walked out of her office, her head swimming. Unless she was greatly mistaken, Cat had implied that she wanted Raina back someday. Her _hero_ had said that she liked Raina's writing enough that she would consider her application in the future.

Lucky just didn't sum it up.

Kara was ducked over at Winn's desk, even as Raina headed over to say goodbye. Her ponytail bobbed, her soft, curly hair staying perfectly in place at an impossible angle. When she straightened, she turned straight for Raina, like she'd heard her approach.

"Raina!" she said, and managed to grin wider than Raina herself. "You've done such an amazing job here. Thanks so much for saving the Compass!"

Raina blushed furiously. Winn, sitting stretched out in his chair, looked _very_ antsy, like he had somewhere he needed to be. "Yeah! Great… job. I mean, Kara and I were just gonna…" his voice trailed off, his excuses abandoning him. Kara rounded on him, laughing, and as they bantered, Raina stood and watched, still giddy.

As ever, there was something unfathomably familiar about Kara. Raina ran it through her mind one last time, referencing it with any celebrities she might've seen in a paper. It seemed closer to home than that.

And then Kara giggled, sweet and high, and Raina _got it._

"Raina?" Winn said, and she jolted back to look at him. He still looked ready to jump out of his chair and scuttle Raina away, and now she knew why. He knew.

Raina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, cuz, I'm on my way. Wouldn't want to to intrude."

Raina offered a hand, but Kara pulled her in for a hug instead. She felt the same as she had the night before, whizzing Raina through the sky. In her ear, Raina whispered, "Up, up, and away," and before Kara could say anything, she was pulling away. To her stunned expression, Raina only winked, and walked out.

When Raina got home, she fed her Superman toy to the neighbour's cat.


	16. Chapter 16

**PRINCESS CHARMING — A HERO FROM A DIFFERENT FAIRY TALE**

In National City today, we were graced with another superhero. Clad in a suit reminiscent of Supergirl, she charged the scene of an armed thief at a family-run bakery on Main Street.

It was stunning to watch. The second Charming arrived, everything stopped going in the thief's favour. By the time Charming engaged him, he'd managed to trip, miss her by a stunning amount no less than three times, and get himself a good amount tangled in some electrical cords somebody had left in the street. In a second, Charming had him tied, but not before an enterprising seagull took a dump on his head.

In short, as Charming herself explained, "I'm just lucky. Things tend to… happen, and I take advantage of it for the better of National City." She seemed reluctant to release more than that, but before taking off, she said, "And this is all thanks to Supergirl, for inspiring me in so many ways when I needed it."

She's certainly a departure from the ego-filled SuperWannabes that are usually out on the streets. Instead of blue and red, her suit is a solid forest green, and instead of giving herself over to ill-fated vigilantism, Princess Charming seems content to stumble her way into encounters with her signature odd brand of luck.

We can look forwards to great things from our newest, peppiest heroine — that, CatCo can guarantee you, with exclusives in our latest magazine, dropping on new stands tomorrow!

 _— by Raina McCarthy, CatCo's top hitting journalist for all things superhuman and superheroic. At twenty six, living at home with her girlfriend Fiona and pet cat Super, she's never been happier. Leave a comment and tell her what you thought of this article!_

 **So that's it! I wanted to drag it out a little more, but let's be honest, you all probably enjoyed this more. I'd enjoy any thoughts you had! The Supergirl fandom has been so wonderful, and I love all of you!**


End file.
